Astana EXPO 2017 National Company and UNWTO will work together to promote sustainable tourism at the international exhibition which will be held in Astana in 2017 under the theme 'Future Energy'. The partnership was signed on 13 June at UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid by UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai and Akhmetzhan Yessimov, Chairman of Board for Astana EXPO 2017 National Company.

Besides supporting the international visibility of the Fair which will take place in Astana next year, the Memorandum of Understanding undersigned between both parties includes the dissemination of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 and the promotion of energy efficiency in tourism and of the UNWTO Silk Road initiative.

"This is an excellent opportunity to highlight the role that the tourism sector has in advancing a greener future," said UNWTO Secretary-General in the signature of the agreement.

"Kazakhstan is rich in energy resources but we need to look into the future and protect our environment, and the future is renewable energies", said Mr. Yessimov.

Specific areas of cooperation in the MoU include the promotion of the Hotel Energy Solution initiative among hotels in Kazakhstan and the organization of a Conference on Tourism and Future Energy in June 2017.

In addition, a Train the Trainers initiative will be conducted during the Astana Expo to enhance the capacities of tour operators based along the Silk Road.

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About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.

Rut Gómez Sobrino
Principal Media Officer
(+34) 91 567 81 60
UN Tourism